An unnamed man recieved the first full face transplant, claims surgeons at Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Spain. This computer generated image is, in a nutshell, what the surgeons did.

It took a full 24 hours for surgeons to complete the grueling task of attatching on a new face to a severely injured young man.

The very first full face transplant was completed, giving a lucky patient a new complexion.

One
man in Barcelona, Spain recently received the first transplant of its
kind. A new face.

That's right, surgeons at the Vall d'Hebron
Hospital in Barcelona claim to have completed the world's first full
face transplant on March 20, 2010. Partial face transplants, as well
as reconstructive surgeries, have been done before,
however; they have never been to this extent.

The unnamed
patient was described as a young man who suffered a severe injury to
his face five years prior. This left him unable to speak, swallow, or
breathe by himself. Doctors finally decided the young man eligible
for a face transplant after nine unsuccessful surgeries. Patients
whose injuries are too severe for simple reconstructive surgeries are
then recommended partial, or even full, face transplants, like this
young man.

After 24 hours of surgery, a team of 30 surgeons
completed the daunting task. Within the day, an entire face was
transplanted, including skin, bone structures, muscle tissue, and
teeth. Scars, that will hopefully vanish into wrinkle-like blemishes,
remain on the patient's forehead and neck. Doctors have prescribed
immunosuppressant drugs to prevent the patient's body from rejecting
the transplant. The hope is that the unnamed patient will lead a
relatively normal life.

"Within a few weeks he
should begin to talk and eat as well as smiling and laughing."
said Dr. Joan Pere Barret, one of his surgeons.

As for
the patient's mental state, receiving a 'new look' as extreme as a
new complexion may be hard to cope with. After completing initial
psychological evaluations, the patient saw his new face. Even though
the new face won't mimic his earlier one, doctors did try to make his
new face resemble the one he once had. A car accident killed the
face donor only a few days before the surgery.

Waking up
and seeing a new face in the mirror can be psychologically straining,
as some might imagine. In a sense, the unnamed patient is
receiving a new first impression, a new appearance. This new
visage may not match his internal identity, however. Years may pass
before the identity and appearance of the man psychologically
marry into an emotionally harmonious state.

All
considered, this landmark
surgery has many applauding. Eleven partial face transplants
have been performed around the world, and the first partial surgery
was completed only five years ago on a woman in
France.

"This operation once again shows how facial
transplantation can help a particular group of the most severely
facially injured people, for whom reconstructive surgery has not
worked and for whom the quality of life is indescribably poor."
comments Professor Peter Butler, head of U.K.'s Facial
Transplantation Research Team to the Daily
Telegraph.
Butler hopes to see Britain compete with Spain, performing their own
full face transplant within a year.

While Hollywood
continues to portray facial transplantation in medically incorrect
films like 'Face Off,' experts hope to see full face transplants
become a common procedure. This could give many a new lease on life,
not to mention a new face.